“Oh, it’s a little puppy! She’s like a little toy.”
“He. This is Earl Grey. I hope you don’t mind, but I didn’t want to leave him home alone.”
“Oh, oh, he’s precious. Just precious.”
“Would you like to hold him?”
“I’d love it.” Miranda gathered the dog in her hands, immediately lapsed into lisping baby talk.
Lila just slanted a look toward Ash, and smiled. “Is there anywhere I could take him for a little walk outside?”
“Oh, of course! I’ll show you. Want to go for a walkie?” Miranda cooed, rubbing noses with Earl Grey, then giggling when he lapped his tiny tongue on her face.
The Collector
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By maxintosh / Max Talbot-Minkin -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/maxtm/311263959/, CC BY 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5724965
You can't help it. You see that sweet little face and immediately begin to blabber in a sing-song voice, "Hello, sweetie pie! Who's a good boy?!"
We tend to talk to puppies as we do to babies, speaking slowly in a high-pitched voice. An international team of researchers recently looked at the science behind what they call "dog-directed speech" to find out why we do it and if our canine friends truly respond to it.
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She cradled the pup, who immediately bathed her face as if they were reunited lovers. She caught the
faintest whiff of leather on his warm puppy breath.
“Aren’t you cute? Are you a pretty boy?”
“He’s a monster.” Simon snarled it. “An escape artist who doesn’t sleep. If I take my eye off him for two minutes, he eats something or breaks something or finds the most inappropriate place to relieve himself. I haven’t had a minute’s peace in three weeks.”
“Um-hmm.” She snuggled the pup.
The Search